Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR

Written and Contributed by Beth Burton- Krahn, The CEDRIC Centre's newest counsellor

What is it used for? EMDR is used to treat troubling symptoms such as anxiety, depression, guilt, anger, and post-traumatic reactions. It can also be used to enhance emotional resources such as confidence and self-esteem.

What happens in a session? EMDR is different for everyone, because the healing process is guided from within. Sometimes past issues or memories come up, which are related to the current concern. These may also be treated with EMDR. Sometimes a painful memory brings up unpleasant emotions or body sensations. This is normal and generally passes during the EMDR. The upsetting emotion or memory seems to fade into the past and lose its' power.

If you would like to schedule an EMDR session with Beth on Thursdays and Fridays please call or e- mail with some available times in mind. EMDR sessions cannot be conducted via distance counselling.

Weight, Health, and Culture: Shifting the Paradigm for Alternative Health Care

Contributed by Jonathan I Robison PhD, MS

Promoting weight loss through dietary restriction and behavior modification rarely succeeds, often results in weight cycling (repeated bouts of weight loss and regain) with the potential for serious physical and psychological health risks and contributes to a growing epidemic of dangerous eating disorders. Therefore, continuing to promote such approaches for the purpose of improving health is scientifically indefensible and ethically unacceptable. Contrary to conventional wisdom, body weight is neither an appropriate nor valid measure of human health or self- worth.

As with other aspects of Western health care, however, traditional approaches to weight management remain rooted in a biomedical, reductionism paradigm. Practitioners and advocates of alternative and complementary health care must not fall into the trap of merely "plugging in" alternative therapies to this flawed paradigm. This paper will examine the failure of current approaches to weight management, explore the underlying assumptions and basic components of an alternative paradigm for weight and health and discuss the practical implications of this information for alternative health care.

Nowhere in the fields of health and medicine is there a more urgent need for alternative approaches than in the area of weight management. Despite the general agreement of leading experts that diet programs are ineffective for the majority of participants (National Institutes of Health [NIH], l992), research and intervention continue to focus on weight loss primarily through dietary restriction. Ironically, with 50 billion dollars a year spent on weight loss efforts (Begley, 1991), the American population continues to get heavier and we are faced with an epidemic of eating disorders (Garner & Wooley, 1991).

By, Michelle Morand, Founder and Director of The CEDRIC Centre.

Hello!

This month I'd like to tell you about some exciting developments here at The Centre.

First and foremost, I'd like to introduce you to Beth and Virginia. You may have read about my colleague Beth in our last issue. Beth has her Masters in counselling psychology and is a registered clinical counsellor. While she hasn't personally dealt with an eating disorder, she does have experience with alcoholism, and I asked her to work with us here at The Centre because I know she's a compassionate and incredible counsellor who really "gets" this issue.

Virginia Preston is our new administrative assistant and I hope you'll join me in giving her a warm welcome! As I gear up to get my book ready to be sent to publishers, more of Brooke's time will be spent editing the book, and promoting me and The Centre. So, Virginia will be booking appointments, handling correspondence, and generally helping to make the office run as smoothly as possible. I asked Virginia to come on board our team because she is such a warm and compassionate presence, and has a background working with disordered eating. So if you call and get a new voice on the line, please feel free to introduce yourself to Virginia!

What's this about a book, you ask? Well, as many of you may know, I have been working on a book for some time and I'm in the final stages of putting it together and putting it out there to get published. It's all about The CEDRIC Centre's approach to recovery from food and weight issues. I'll keep you posted as more news develops but in the meantime, if you'd like to purchase sample chapters, click here..

Another little tidbit I'd like to share with you is about our recent coverage on the New VI TV station for Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Astrid Braunschmidt interviewed me in the office earlier today and the interview will air between 5-7 pm today on channel 12. Check for local listings.

If you'd like to contact The New VI and let them know you enjoyed the interview with me and would like more, you can here.

Our special thank you to Sandy Szwarc RN, BSN, CCP, the writer of this article, for letting us reprint her fabulous work from Tech Central.

After ringing in the New Year, the party's over. The diet season has begun and so do our resolutions to diet and exercise, quit smoking and begin a new life. "Yup, it'll be All Bran all the time in 2005," said food writer Gwyneth Doland.

Just in time to accompany the weight loss advertisements that beset us every year at this time, a new report claims to provide the evidence that dieting and attaining a trim figure are imperative. Women must be "toned and trim," we're told, because no amount of exercise can offset the risks of dying prematurely when overweight. The bearers of those gloomy tidings are researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, in a report published in the New England Journal Medicine. They claim to have studied 116,564 women for 24 years and found that even exercising 3 1/2 hours a week, fat women have a 91% greater risk of premature death as compared to lean women.

This veritable death threat left women feeling angry and hopeless that their fat was going to kill them regardless of what they did. The latest comprehensive review of the nation's top ten diets by University of Pennsylvania researchers confirmed, yet again, that there is no diet that offers "more than glossy ads and dramatic testimonials when it comes to promising long-term results."

But despite this Harvard study's claim we must shed body fat or else, closer examination reveals that it deserves nothing more than a good belly laugh and to be tossed out with all the fad diets.

Diana linked to bulimia increase

Diana's bulimia was revealed in Andrew Morton's 1992 book Rates of the eating disorder bulimia appear to have been influenced by revelations Princess Diana had battled with the condition, a study suggests.

British Journal of Psychiatry research found rates rose in the early 1990s - when news of Diana's illness appeared.

However, her death in 1997 coincided with the beginning of the decline in the rate of bulimia seen by GPs.

But eating disorder experts said bulimia rates had not fallen - instead fewer people were talking about it.

The Eating Disorders Association said the coverage of Diana's illness, following revelations in Andrew Morton's 1992 book, had raised awareness, and enabled people with bulimia to come forward.

Now, with less coverage of the condition, they said a stigma had once again grown around bulimia, and people were more likely to be suffering in silence.

If you're fed up with diets, and done with deprivation, this is the seminar you don't want to miss.

Our seminars provide real tools, with easy to follow, step by step instructions you can take home and use, when and where you need them.

Throughout the seminar you'll learn why you're triggered to eat for emotional reasons, and what you can do to change the process right now.

Stop eating your feelings, and start nourishing your spirit at our three day seminar!

• Skills Development 10:00 am- 11:00 am
• Snack time 11:00 am-11:30 am
• Skills Development 11:30 am- 12:30 pm
• Lunch 12:30 pm- 2:30 pm
• Interactive Work Shop 2:30 pm- 5:30 pm
• Yoga 5:30 pm- 7:00 pm

April 08, 09, 10, 2005, 10:00AM-7:00PM, Sandman Hotel Board Room, 2852 Douglas Street, Victoria, B.C. $374.50 per person, does not include meals.

Read more about our guest presenters below!

On April 9th from 2:30-5:30 pm, join River Chandler for Image Theatre. This three hour experience begins with gentle warm up games for our bodies. River then facilitates the creation of physical images of our struggles with body image, and utilizes a range of techniques to animate these images, in order to explore and understand our body image more deeply.

River Chandler, BSW, has formal training and experience in theatre. She recently completed Level One and Two Certification in Theatre for Living, with world-renowned Headlines Theatre, Vancouver. River's background includes fifteen years working in the social services field as a facilitator, instructor and counsellor. River currently runs TheatreWorks Consulting, offering workshops utilizing theatre to facilitate healthy change in community agencies, workplaces and schools.

On April 10th from 2:30-5:30 pm, illustrator and fibre artist April Caverhill will facilitate a workshop, enabling participants to express their experiences through the restorative powers of art. A wide variety of media will be used to create personal works that reflect your healing journey.  

April Caverhill is a happy, healthy artist who has been a successful illustrator, textile designer and teacher for over twenty years. With additional skills gleaned from her own teenage struggle with disordered eating, she now assists those with body challenges in developing a powerful, resilient core of loving self- acceptance.

Aileen Pickard

I finally agree that your plan works! I have been trusting a long time--since last April.

I have not binged for months now and that in itself is amazing. Although my body reached its maximum weight ever in recent times, the weight is now sliding off.

I found it very hard to trust and believe in what you had said at times. I am truly thankful for all that I learned in the two weekends I spent at the Centre. It is truly a miracle! Thank you again.

P.S. I wanted to add that since I quit bingeing, with the money I save I am able to start an education fund for my granddaughter! That feels soooooo good!

A very special thank you to Aileen Pickard, who attended a weekend workshop last year and made amazing progress since then. Her story is fabulous inspiration and we hope you enjoy reading it! If you'd like to share your success story, please call or e- mail.

How to Keep Committing to Recovery

By Alison M.

Sometimes, I just don't want to do it anymore. Being aware of my imperfections, feeling painful feelings, doing what's "right", growing up. Recovery is hard work, and sometimes I wish I had never started.

When I was still acting out my food obsession, and dieting and bingeing consumed my life, I only wanted to do the things that came easy. I never tried things I was sure I would fail at, and as my obsession deepened, that was just about everything. As a result, I never took piano lessons, or tried swimming lessons, I refused to audition for plays, avoided submitting stories to publications, and neglected to reach out to other people. If, as I did on rare occasions, try something new, I would get discouraged if I wasn't an expert after my first try and would give up. If I had no choice, the only way I could get through it was by eating. I couldn't stand those uncomfortable feelings of weakness, uncertainty, and vulnerability. More than anything, it made me angry to think there was one more thing I wasn't good at because my entire sense of self was grounded in being the best.

It's a miracle that I ever found my way to recovery because it is a process of change, growth, and learning that can be very uncomfortable. It is a new way of living that demands I start doing everything I ever avoided. With its setbacks, slow progress, and ongoing change, recovery feels overwhelming and exhausting sometimes. Every now and then, I feel like I am getting nowhere, wasting my time, energy and money, and I just want to give up. It's during those times that I can learn and grow the most, if I commit to the process and overcome my negative thinking. But how do I commit when it's the last thing I want to do?